[If Someone You Met on Social Media or a Dating App Asks for Money for Investing or Travel] Do Not Pay Anyone You Have Never Met in Person: Ask the Police First - Japan's NPA Counted 4,005 Romance Frauds and 36.65 Billion Yen in January-September 2026

Short answer: if someone you met on social media or a dating app, and have never met in person, brings up money, for example 'let us invest for our future', 'send me travel money so we can meet', or 'pay a fee so I can ship a package', ask the police before you send anything. In statistics published on November 11, 2026, Japan's National Police Agency (NPA) counted 4,005 SNS-type romance frauds and 36.65 billion yen in losses through the end of September 2026 (January-September, provisional). Compared with the same period a year earlier, that is only 10 fewer cases (0.2%) and 0.89 billion yen less (2.4%), so the level is almost unchanged.

The NPA describes this scam as one in which you keep in touch with someone you met through social media or a matching app without ever meeting them in person, come to feel romantic love or closeness, and are then cheated out of money. Dividing the losses by the number of cases gives about 9.15 million yen per case (our own simple calculation, an average). The cases the NPA presents range from about 3 million yen to about 150 million yen. Below, we explain the flow, the cases, how to read the numbers, and what to do today. These figures are for Japan.

How it runs (the seven steps shown by the NPA)

• ▸1. Contact starts on social media or a matching app. It begins with a friend request or a match
• ▸2. You are invited to talk on another service. The NPA says that if you are moved to LINE early after meeting on a matching app, you should suspect a scam
• ▸3. Messages arrive that make you feel romantic love. Your feelings deepen without meeting
• ▸4. An investment site is shown and recommended. You may be told it is money for marriage or a shared life. The NPA writes that the approach of leading you into investing accounts for about 80%
• ▸5. You are urged to invest even more. A special investment app may show profits rising to make it look real (NPA)
• ▸6. When you try to withdraw, you are asked to send money under various pretexts and end up unable to withdraw.
• ▸7. The other person stops responding.

Some versions have no investment at all. The NPA also lists, as the same fraud, cases where the scammer builds affection and then takes money for travel costs, a package handling fee, an advance payment or other 'pretexts premised on continuing the relationship'.

Five cases shown by the NPA

• ▸Woman in her 40s, about 5 million yen: met a man claiming to be a Korean living in the UK on social media and promised to marry him without ever meeting. He said, 'Could you cover money I need for work? If you do not, I will break my contract and go to prison.' She transferred money several times
• ▸Man in his 40s, about 7 million yen: met a woman claiming to be a single 30-something in Macau online. She said, 'I trade cryptocurrency short term' and 'we can reach wealth and freedom faster.' He transferred money several times to buy cryptocurrency
• ▸Man in his 40s, about 3 million yen: while messaging a Japanese woman who sent a friend request, he was told, 'Let us save money by investing for our future' and 'you will surely profit.' He installed a special app and transferred money
• ▸Man in his 50s, about 33 million yen: a woman he met on a matching app urged him to run an online shop, saying, 'It costs nothing and you will profit.' He paid deposits for stock and for withdrawing profits
• ▸About 150 million yen (no age or gender given): the victim met, on a matching app, a woman claiming to be a foreign-exchange analyst, who urged FX investing over social media, saying, 'I want to earn money so we can live together as a couple.' The victim transferred cash to the designated account

What they share is that the two never actually met, and that affection came first, and the talk of money came afterward. Whether it is called an investment, an advance or a deposit, it is still money talk from someone you have never met.

How to read the numbers

• ▸SNS-type romance fraud: 4,005 cases (-10 / -0.2% year on year) and 36.65 billion yen (-0.89 billion / -2.4%). Roughly flat, not a level at which you can say it decreased
• ▸For comparison, SNS-type investment fraud: 7,580 cases (+1,661 / +28.1%) and 99.10 billion yen (+21.22 billion / +27.2%). These are from the same NPA table. Romance and investment fraud are separate categories, but both include the form where someone you met on social media urges you to invest
• ▸These are provisional figures. They cover January-September 2026 and are not final
• ▸'About 9.15 million yen per case' is our own division. The NPA does not state an average. The five cases it presents range widely, from about 3 million yen to about 150 million yen

'Never met in person' is the deciding clue

The NPA explains that photos posted on social media, translation apps and AI let anyone impersonate another person easily, and even create that person's voice and video. It therefore writes that however close you become through chat, phone calls or video calls, the other person may be an impersonator, and if you have never met in person, you may be being deceived. Seeing a face on a video call is not proof that it is safe (for AI-faked calls, read the related article below).

The NPA tells you that if even one of these phrases applies, you should consult the police without hesitation before sending money: 'for our future', 'let us grow our money by investing', 'I want to see you, so send me travel money', 'I will send a package, so pay the handling fee'. It also warns of cases in which a scammer asks for 'help with investing' and has you move money that arrived in your own account to other accounts, so that you are used as a tool for money laundering, and you can even be charged under the Act on Punishment of Organized Crimes.

What to do today

• ✓★Do not send money to anyone you have never met in person, whatever the reason. Investment, travel costs, a package fee, an advance or a deposit are all the same
• ✓★If you hear even one of 'for our future', 'let us invest to grow it', 'send me travel money' or 'pay a fee', consult the police before you pay. The police consultation line is '#9110'
• ✓If you met on a matching app and are invited to LINE or another app early on, be suspicious. This is a caution the NPA gives
• ✓Do not trust profits shown in a special investment app. The NPA explains that scammers may make returns look as if they are rising
• ✓If, when you try to withdraw, you are asked for more money under various pretexts, stop. In the NPA's flow this is step 6, and in most cases you end up unable to withdraw
• ✓If you are asked to 'help with investing' and money arrives in your account, do not send it on to other accounts. You may be used as a criminal tool without knowing it (NPA)
• ✓If you have already sent money, do not carry it alone: keep the account, date and message records, and consult the police (our recommendation). There is no need to feel ashamed. The NPA also writes that, because photos, translation apps and AI let anyone impersonate another person, you may be being deceived if you have never met in person

What we could not confirm

• ▸Which social media services or apps are used most. The NPA page shows graphs of cases and losses by first contact tool (January-June 2026) only as images, and we could not read the numbers as text. So this article does not say which service is most common
• ▸Changes to provisional figures. The September figures are provisional and may change later
• ▸The period behind 'about 80%' leading to investment. We could not find the period on the NPA page, so we quote only the share
• ▸The age or gender breakdown of victims. Of the cases the NPA presents, the four with a stated age are in their 40s or 50s, but they are a small selection and do not show a trend. We do not say what age is targeted
• ▸What is behind 'about 9.15 million yen per case'. It is our own average, and the distribution is unknown

Three lines to send to family

• ▸If someone you met on social media or a dating app, and never met in person, says 'let us invest', 'send travel money' or 'pay a fee', ask the police before you pay. NPA statistics: 4,005 cases and 36.65 billion yen in January-September
• ▸★Seeing a face on a video call does not prove who it is. If you have never met in person, do not send money
• ▸If unsure, call the police consultation line #9110 or the Consumer Hotline 188. In an emergency, call 110

Where to get help (Japan)

The police consultation line '#9110' connects to the consultation desk of the prefectural police covering the place you call from (per the National Police Agency's guide, it does not work from dial lines and some IP phones, which use a number for each prefecture). Consult this line or your nearest police station both before sending money and after you have already sent it. If you are unsure about a contract or payment, the Consumer Hotline '188' (a number that connects to your local consumer affairs center) is also available. Keep your records (messages, app screens, transfer receipts) instead of deleting them when you consult (our recommendation). These are services in Japan.

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